New Reolink Wired POE Doorbell Cam ?

[CanadaBri]

Hi David, Thanks for the info. When I have my DB set up and connected to my NVR and the network, my NVR acknowledges the camera but displays no video. My NVR is a POE (25 Watt p/port) so I was thinking I could avoid the expense of an injector. However, you identified Reolink state the IP address is assigned by the router. Unfortunately my router only displays the address of the NVR not the IP for the individual port connected devices (DHCP.) Reconsidering about your advice and if I understand your diection, the injector would allow me to connect the DB to my network outside of my NVR and identify the IP of the camera then assign static IP address to the DB that is outside the DHCP server range. Is that the idea or have i missed something? Sorry, up until now every device I've connected to my NVR has functioned so I'm in new territory when looking onto injectors, injectors that do or do not support passthrough, swtches etc . Not sure which device would be most beneficial / needed. I'm not expecting any guarantees just your best guess guidance.

I just received my ReoLink PoE doorbell the other day. I also have a Lorex system (N882 line, which was bought at the time they supported ONVIF). I can confirm that you can power the doorbell from the Lorex NVR - but there are some significant limitations because of the way Lorex does their "stuff". It took some figuring out, but going into the Lorex Device Cfg and adding a remote camera manually was how I got the camera to show its video along with the other cameras. And it will record as per normal. It still rings the chime when the button is pushed (I assume this is a bluetooth connection to the chime). Note that you do need to have your Reolink doorbell on a normal network first so that you can edit and enable the ONVIF ports - found in the network section of the web mgmt console.

The limitation though is that you will not get any push notifications, emails, etc of any sort. The cameras on the Lorex system are isolated only to the NVR itself. The PoE ports on the Lorex NVR are not routed to your home network (separate subnet entirely). The NVR is the only way to see what is on your security network. That doesn't work for me, so I am using a small (cheap) PoE switch that I bought from Amazon (TP-Link TL-SG1005P) plugged into my home network. I put a 256GB microSSD in the camera for local recording. I use a common GMail to send notifications from my NVR. That GMail is also used by the doorbell. I have setup the doorbell to upload video and events to my FTP "server" (a cheap NAS on my home network) - so that I do have some footage stored inside my house in the event some damage or theft happens to the doorbell itself.

Looking back, I got the Lorex system at the time because it seemed to be the best option out there although it did not have a compatible doorbell. At that time, they were one of a few that had colour night vision, fast frame rates, no subscriptions required, support for enough local storage, and a few other features I liked. I also watched the demos of the management interface (the installed app, not the local gui) and liked what I saw. I thought the missing capabilities would be developed in the product line, but I was wrong. Instead, Lorex was sold to Skywatch. The products are becoming more self contained to support only the Lorex ecosphere - If I understand correctly, they don't even plan on supporting ONVIF anymore. The local NVR management interface is annoying in that no keyboard is supported. The Lorex Cloud app is just OK, but terrible if used on a tablet to act as a wall console and there have been no updates for a long time. Dahau SmartPSS is a better application, but only available for PC/Mac - basically the same, but has seen more recent updates.

If I ever update/upgrade some of my NVR connected items, I am not sure I would go with Lorex again. Reolink has mostly caught up with its latest line of security cameras, and they still support ONVIF. If the smaller NVRs eventually support more local storage, I might change my NVR and just keep my cameras.

 

[David L]

I just received my ReoLink PoE doorbell the other day. I also have a Lorex system (N882 line, which was bought at the time they supported ONVIF). I can confirm that you can power the doorbell from the Lorex NVR - but there are some significant limitations because of the way Lorex does their "stuff". It took some figuring out, but going into the Lorex Device Cfg and adding a remote camera manually was how I got the camera to show its video along with the other cameras. And it will record as per normal. It still rings the chime when the button is pushed (I assume this is a bluetooth connection to the chime). Note that you do need to have your Reolink doorbell on a normal network first so that you can edit and enable the ONVIF ports - found in the network section of the web mgmt console.

The limitation though is that you will not get any push notifications, emails, etc of any sort. The cameras on the Lorex system are isolated only to the NVR itself. The PoE ports on the Lorex NVR are not routed to your home network (separate subnet entirely). The NVR is the only way to see what is on your security network. That doesn't work for me, so I am using a small (cheap) PoE switch that I bought from Amazon (TP-Link TL-SG1005P) plugged into my home network. I put a 256GB microSSD in the camera for local recording. I use a common GMail to send notifications from my NVR. That GMail is also used by the doorbell. I have setup the doorbell to upload video and events to my FTP "server" (a cheap NAS on my home network) - so that I do have some footage stored inside my house in the event some damage or theft happens to the doorbell itself.

Looking back, I got the Lorex system at the time because it seemed to be the best option out there although it did not have a compatible doorbell. At that time, they were one of a few that had colour night vision, fast frame rates, no subscriptions required, support for enough local storage, and a few other features I liked. I also watched the demos of the management interface (the installed app, not the local gui) and liked what I saw. I thought the missing capabilities would be developed in the product line, but I was wrong. Instead, Lorex was sold to Skywatch. The products are becoming more self contained to support only the Lorex ecosphere - If I understand correctly, they don't even plan on supporting ONVIF anymore. The local NVR management interface is annoying in that no keyboard is supported. The Lorex Cloud app is just OK, but terrible if used on a tablet to act as a wall console and there have been no updates for a long time. Dahau SmartPSS is a better application, but only available for PC/Mac - basically the same, but has seen more recent updates.

If I ever update/upgrade some of my NVR connected items, I am not sure I would go with Lorex again. Reolink has mostly caught up with its latest line of security cameras, and they still support ONVIF. If the smaller NVRs eventually support more local storage, I might change my NVR and just keep my cameras.

The connection to the Chime is 433Hz RF

New Reolink Wired POE Doorbell Cam ?

Doorbell went offline in BI again this morning at 6:30AM. I am doing a factory reset this time (like recommended by Reolink) to see if these random drop-outs of the RTSP feed keep happening. Once again, the app and directly logging into the camera showed it was still online fine, but the RTSP...

ipcamtalk.com

 

[CanadaBri]

@David L
Can you post your config suggestions for the settings in Alarm Settings (thinking motion detection, smart detection). I'm trying to set mine up so that not every squirrel or car driving by triggers an event. I haven't tune the "object size" or "detection zone" settings yet though.

 

[David L]

@David L
Can you post your config suggestions for the settings in Alarm Settings (thinking motion detection, smart detection). I'm trying to set mine up so that not every squirrel or car driving by triggers an event. I haven't tune the "object size" or "detection zone" settings yet though.

I'm sorry but I don't use the CAMs detections. I have been using Blue Iris.

I am sure several here can help you. @flynreelow may be able to help...

 

[Elton Noway]

Hi David... Lorex NVR UPDATE
Thanks to the excellent response in your thread SETTING UP REOLINK DOORBELL FOR FIRST TIME I was able to get my Reolink DB up and running on my Lorex NVR. NET: After making multiple attempts to configure my NVR so it would recognize the DB I gave up and purchased the POE Injector you've successfully used and suggested. Using the injector I connected the DB to my router (instead of the NVR). After launching REOLINK Client and I was able to access the Reolink setup. After completing the initial set up I then followed your settings suggestions i,.e., For those connecting the DB to your NVR you will need to turn On RTSP & ONVIF in Network/Advanced/Server Settings/Setup as well as turning on the all DB settings RTMP/HTTP/RTSP and ONVIF (as suggested by David L.) I was able to disconnect the injector and move the DB feed over to my NVR. NOTE: The only additional change I had to make was to turn on UPnP and bingo I was able to display the DB video via my Lorex NVR.


FYI: My primary goal in swapping out my old YouSee SD-M5 with the Reolink was hoping the NVR would record the correct date and time as well as getting a working interior door chime "both" of which I now have with the Reolink. As to the issues facing CanadaBri and cam detection I'm afraid I can't be of any help either because I already have cam detection on several of my Lorex Cameras that activate and alert me "before" a visitor reaches my front door. As a result cam detection via the DB wasn't a requirement for me

During setup after letting the software interrogate my DB I ws surprised it stated I have the most current firmware version


Now... the only "bug" I need to address is the 15 second time difference between the time stamp on the DB image and the images of the Lorex cameras. Actually the 15 seconds on the video time stamp isn't a big deal but the delay is also impacting the live feed (i.e., not technically accurate). The live image shown on camera in reality is actually 15 seconds after the fact. Thinking it might just be a sync setting. Thanks again for all your help and detailed instructions!

 

[CanadaBri]

View attachment 161193



Now... the only "bug" I need to address is the 15 second time difference between the time stamp on the DB image and the images of the Lorex cameras. Actually the 15 seconds on the video time stamp isn't a big deal but the delay is also impacting the live feed (i.e., not technically accurate). The live image shown on camera in reality is actually 15 seconds after the fact. Thinking it might just be a sync setting. Thanks again for all your help and detailed instructions!

Did you check your NTP settings? Upon my 1st setup, it asked me if I wanted to sync time with my phone, which I did. Later, when I went into the management console (web or desktop app), I checked NTP settings and noticed that it was not set to automatically sync with internet NTP servers. If your Lorex and Reolink both sync to NTP servers, then they should be time synced to each other. NTP values are default in the console.. you should just have to enable auto sync.

 

[Elton Noway]

Did you check your NTP settings? Upon my 1st setup, it asked me if I wanted to sync time with my phone, which I did. Later, when I went into the management console (web or desktop app), I checked NTP settings and noticed that it was not set to automatically sync with internet NTP servers. If your Lorex and Reolink both sync to NTP servers, then they should be time synced to each other. NTP values are default in the console.. you should just have to enable auto sync.

Yep... just checked. That was the trick. Thanks!

 

[David L]

Hi David... Lorex NVR UPDATE
Thanks to the excellent response in your thread SETTING UP REOLINK DOORBELL FOR FIRST TIME I was able to get my Reolink DB up and running on my Lorex NVR. NET: After making multiple attempts to configure my NVR so it would recognize the DB I gave up and purchased the POE Injector you've successfully used and suggested. Using the injector I connected the DB to my router (instead of the NVR). After launching REOLINK Client and I was able to access the Reolink setup. After completing the initial set up I then followed your settings suggestions i,.e., For those connecting the DB to your NVR you will need to turn On RTSP & ONVIF in Network/Advanced/Port Settings. After turning on the all DB settings you suggested (RTMP/HTTP/RTSP and ONVIF) I was able to disconnect the injector and move the DB feed over to my NVR. NOTE: The only additional change I had to make was to turn on UPnP and bingo I was able to display the DB video via my Lorex NVR.

View attachment 161193
FYI: My primary goal in swapping out my old YouSee SD-M5 with the Reolink was hoping the NVR would record the correct date and time as well as getting a working interior door chime "both" of which I now have with the Reolink. As to the issues facing CanadaBri and cam detection I'm afraid I can't be of any help either because I already have cam detection on several of my Lorex Cameras that activate and alert me "before" a visitor reaches my front door. As a result cam detection via the DB wasn't a requirement for me

During setup after letting the software interrogate my DB I ws surprised it stated I have the most current firmware version
View attachment 161201

Now... the only "bug" I need to address is the 15 second time difference between the time stamp on the DB image and the images of the Lorex cameras. Actually the 15 seconds on the video time stamp isn't a big deal but the delay is also impacting the live feed (i.e., not technically accurate). The live image shown on camera in reality is actually 15 seconds after the fact. Thinking it might just be a sync setting. Thanks again for all your help and detailed instructions!

Glad you're up and running and glad I could help. Feel free to link to the post on Page 1, Post 1 of your/this Thread and add your NVR experience...

Turning On uPnP on your NVR should be find since the devices (CAMs) are on their own subnet, but I would Not have uPnP turned On in your Router. Hackers love to come in Routers with this On. uPnP is your Plug-n-Play you were referring to earlier.

As far as a Timer Server (NTP) what I do is have ALL my nodes/devices (CAMs/IoT/PCs-Laptop/Managed Switches/etc.) get their time from my pfSense Router which runs a NTP Server to keep Everything in sync.
The 127.127.20.0 address is for a GPS project I have been working on to get my time locally via a GPS module:



As for my CAMs:


Doorbell:


PC:


Just to show a few...Prior to my NTP Server on my pfSense Router I use to run NetTime which worked Great for many years.
You just need a Dedicated PC running 24/7 which you point all your nodes/devices to it's IP to get their Time.
These were the Servers I use to get Time from:

 

[Elton Noway]

Dang... I thought I had the time click issue resolved. Everything looks fine when exiting Reolink Client but for some reason the DB time clock keeps resetting itself to one hour earlier than the actual time. (no issues with the date displayed)

I've confirmed the Reolink DB client, my Lorex NVR, my network router and system PC are all polling the same NTP server - pool.ntp.org and all are set to auto synchronize and all are set to automaticaly adjust for DST. Both Reolink DB and Lorex NTP se to the same NTP port. I connect my DB to the injector and system router and fire up Reolink Client to access settings and set the date and time, synchronize NTP and confirm the date and time are correct and exit the Client program all appears good. If I fire up the Client program again the time and date displayed are still correct. But if I exit the client program again, disconnect the DB from the injector and system router and plug it into my NVR the time display on the camera video is off ... (minus one hour). Then... if I plug the DB it back into the injector and router and fire up Reolink Client and access the time date settings... the time displayed is now also off by the minus one hour as well. I tried playing with DST, both on and off, but it made no difference in the outcome.

Anyone know what I might be missing?

FYI: Before anyone else suggests it... l looked into a PfSense router last year and found it to be complex and overwhelming (to put it mildly). In truth I barely have enough time to keep up with the forum and I'm in the middle of a major bathroom remodel! To quote Sweet Brown: "Ain't nobody got time for this"

 

[David L]

Dang... I thought I had the time click issue resolved. Everything looks fine when exiting Reolink Client but for some reason the DB time clock keeps resetting itself to one hour earlier than the actual time. (no issues with the date displayed)

I've confirmed the Reolink DB client, my Lorex NVR, my network router and system PC are all polling the same NTP server - pool.ntp.org and all are set to auto synchronize and all are set to automaticaly adjust for DST. Both Reolink DB and Lorex NTP se to the same NTP port. I connect my DB to the injector and system router and fire up Reolink Client to access settings and set the date and time, synchronize NTP and confirm the date and time are correct and exit the Client program all appears good. If I fire up the Client program again the time and date displayed are still correct. But if I exit the client program again, disconnect the DB from the injector and system router and plug it into my NVR the time display on the camera video is off ... (minus one hour). Then... if I plug the DB it back into the injector and router and fire up Reolink Client and access the time date settings... the time displayed is now also off by the minus one hour as well. I tried playing with DST, both on and off, but it made no difference in the outcome.

Anyone know what I might be missing?

FYI: Before anyone else suggests it... l looked into a PfSense router last year and found it to be complex and overwhelming (to put it mildly). In truth I barely have enough time to keep up with the forum and I'm in the middle of a major bathroom remodel! To quote Sweet Brown: "Ain't nobody got time for this"
View attachment 161279

So I was having that issue, found out even though my devices, cameras mainly, were connecting to a local NTP Server I still had to set DST on each device. Be sure a double check your Time Zone to make sure you have the correct Spring Forward/Fall Back Dates and Times...

 

[David L]

Dang... I thought I had the time click issue resolved. Everything looks fine when exiting Reolink Client but for some reason the DB time clock keeps resetting itself to one hour earlier than the actual time. (no issues with the date displayed)

I've confirmed the Reolink DB client, my Lorex NVR, my network router and system PC are all polling the same NTP server - pool.ntp.org and all are set to auto synchronize and all are set to automaticaly adjust for DST. Both Reolink DB and Lorex NTP se to the same NTP port. I connect my DB to the injector and system router and fire up Reolink Client to access settings and set the date and time, synchronize NTP and confirm the date and time are correct and exit the Client program all appears good. If I fire up the Client program again the time and date displayed are still correct. But if I exit the client program again, disconnect the DB from the injector and system router and plug it into my NVR the time display on the camera video is off ... (minus one hour). Then... if I plug the DB it back into the injector and router and fire up Reolink Client and access the time date settings... the time displayed is now also off by the minus one hour as well. I tried playing with DST, both on and off, but it made no difference in the outcome.

Anyone know what I might be missing?

FYI: Before anyone else suggests it... l looked into a PfSense router last year and found it to be complex and overwhelming (to put it mildly). In truth I barely have enough time to keep up with the forum and I'm in the middle of a major bathroom remodel! To quote Sweet Brown: "Ain't nobody got time for this"
View attachment 161279

Wow one heck of a tearout/project. We have a major remodel in our future with our Master bathroom. We want to remove the garden tub and shower and replace with a walk in shower. I am sure the wife will want new cabinets/sinks too I keep putting off the project.

As far as pfSense, it was definitely intimating. Setting up the Basics was not so bad but learning how to setup all my VLANs/Subnets, then the Firewall Rules, yeah overwhelming. It has been a work in progress, took me about a year to set everything up like I want.

This is quite old, about 3 years old, see our S7 phones, haha Never finished it:

Yeah I actually have that many switches, well actually 5 total. I did IT for many years, LAN Mgr., so now I have my Enterprise network to play with at home. I got all those switches before they doubled in price over these last 3 years.
My Main 24 Port POE+ Switch is sweet. 24 802.3at/af-compliant POE+ ports supplying up to 384W total power so I can run Many Cameras, LOL. It is over kill but paid $270 for in back in 2020, now they run close to $400. the SFP ports are only 1g, can't afford 10g

I love their Online Emulators, you can see all the switch's features:

Loading...

emulator.tp-link.com

yEd - Graphics Editor...guessing it is still free...I use to do Visio many years ago, what I liked on yEd is I got all my images by going out and capturing pictures from the manufactures (devices) websites and including them in yEd's Palette database.



yEd was real easy to use, I really need to spend some time and edit it. Need to add my VLANs/Subnets and device IPs (That is for the Static IPs)

 

[David L]

Dang... I thought I had the time click issue resolved. Everything looks fine when exiting Reolink Client but for some reason the DB time clock keeps resetting itself to one hour earlier than the actual time. (no issues with the date displayed)

I've confirmed the Reolink DB client, my Lorex NVR, my network router and system PC are all polling the same NTP server - pool.ntp.org and all are set to auto synchronize and all are set to automaticaly adjust for DST. Both Reolink DB and Lorex NTP se to the same NTP port. I connect my DB to the injector and system router and fire up Reolink Client to access settings and set the date and time, synchronize NTP and confirm the date and time are correct and exit the Client program all appears good. If I fire up the Client program again the time and date displayed are still correct. But if I exit the client program again, disconnect the DB from the injector and system router and plug it into my NVR the time display on the camera video is off ... (minus one hour). Then... if I plug the DB it back into the injector and router and fire up Reolink Client and access the time date settings... the time displayed is now also off by the minus one hour as well. I tried playing with DST, both on and off, but it made no difference in the outcome.

Anyone know what I might be missing?

FYI: Before anyone else suggests it... l looked into a PfSense router last year and found it to be complex and overwhelming (to put it mildly). In truth I barely have enough time to keep up with the forum and I'm in the middle of a major bathroom remodel! To quote Sweet Brown: "Ain't nobody got time for this"
View attachment 161279

One last thing, can you get to the Web interfaces of your Cameras from your PC? I wish I had more experience with NVRs, anyway, instead of having to disconnect your DB and connecting it to your Router, you could just put the DB's IP in a browser and access Config that way.
You would just need to have access to the Subnet the Cameras are on. Just found out @bigredfish uses a NVR, maybe he could help.

 

[Elton Noway]

So I was having that issue, found out even though my devices, cameras mainly, were connecting to a local NTP Server I still had to set DST on each device. Be sure a double check your Time Zone to make sure you have the correct Spring Forward/Fall Back Dates and Times...

Bad news - Good news Thanks for the tips but unfortunately still no success. I double checked that all NTP and equipment settings were for the same exact time zone and DST was enabled (among all the other settings identified i my earlier post. I also tried to access the web interface for the cameras but can't address the individual IP address via the PC as it only sees the router and the attached NVR. I can see all the camera IP address on the NVR but can't access them via the PC.

The good news... I searched this forum for any threads where people were complaining about not being able to get all their cameras to show the same time and/or were unable to get all their cameras synced. I found a solution! (kind of) I'll be the first to admit its not ideal but it works and I don't have to think about this issue again until November when the time changes. Basically its a "work around" that was posted by C hris527 posted in the Blue Iris Cloud Storage Backup forum back in 2017.

In a nut shell - You "uncheck" or disable the DST and NTP settings in your NVR and in your camera app(s) then select the same GMT time zone as needed to display your current time on each device (in my case the Lorex NVR and Reolink Client). The downside is you have to manually adjust your devices for DST when the time changes. In any event... all my camera time stamps are now showing the same time!

NET: I disabled NPT and unchecked DST on my NVR and in Reolink Client, then changed the time zone of each from GMT-5 (the correct default time zone for the US east coast) ... and selected GMT-4 which allows me to (trick the sytems) into displaying the current east coast DST time... at least until November when DST ends... then all I have to do is select GMT-5 and I'll be good again until March. Whew!

 

[bigredfish]

To access the camera direct, login to the NVR, go to the camera registration page, clcik on the blue IE button. It will open that camera's web GUI

 

[Elton Noway]

To access the camera direct, login to the NVR, go to the camera registration page, clcik on the blue IE button. It will open that camera's web GUI

View attachment 161353

Unfortunately... my "older?" Lorex NVR doesn't have a camera registration page...

 

[David L]

Unfortunately... my "older?" Lorex NVR doesn't have a camera registration page...

So how do you configure your other cameras? I know you mentioned PnP but how do you critique your Cameras?

 

[JNDATHP]

The Ultimate Video Doorbell for your HomeSeer System - HomeSeer Smart Home Systems

Reolink's video doorbell supports RTSP and ONVIF events making it the ultimate locally managed video solution for HomeSeer!

homeseer.com

 

[Elton Noway]

So how do you configure your other cameras? I know you mentioned PnP but how do you critique your Cameras?

When I plug a new camera into the NVR it is automatically recognized. The NVR assigns any new camera additions an IP address and port (and does so until all the the availaable ports are occupied). It even assigns each camera a default name (typically Camera 1, Camera 2 and so on) The only thing I have to do as a user is rename the cameras if desired, identify the zones or areas I want covered, adjust sensitivity, IR on or off, alert times etc etc.. Until the Reolink every camera I've added has more or less been plug and play. I guess you could say its evident why Costso and Sams Club sells them. They are simple to install and set up but offer little or no creative flexibility... as we're finding out.

 

[David L]

When I plug a new camera into the NVR it is automatically recognized. The NVR assigns any new camera additions an IP address and port (and does so until all the the availaable ports are occupied). It even assigns each camera a default name (typically Camera 1, Camera 2 and so on) The only thing I have to do as a user is rename the cameras if desired, identify the zones or areas I want covered, adjust sensitivity, IR on or off, alert times etc etc.. Until the Reolink every camera I've added has more or less been plug and play. I guess you could say its evident why Costso and Sams Club sells them. They are simple to install and set up but offer little or no creative flexibility... as we're finding out.

Well once you have everything set on a CAM you usually don't need to go back into settings. Its just that each time you move the DB it will be getting a new IP, which I guess is not a big deal.

 

[Elton Noway]

Well once you have everything set on a CAM you usually don't need to go back into settings. Its just that each time you move the DB it will be getting a new IP, which I guess is not a big deal.

Very true... which is why I assigned the Reolink DB Port Three... as it was already named Doorbell because it's where my old YouSee doorbell was assigned. I still have 3 cameras in boxes that need to be installed, cables run etc, Years ago I was planning on going with Blue Iris but walking thru Costco one day I got a deal that was too good to pass up... It was an open box Lorex "display" piece. 16 Channels, 8TB storage 12 Cameras - Two PTZ, Two w Optical Zoom all of 12 of them 4K... twelve 100 foot rolls of Cat 5. The Lorex app (although not the slickest interface, allows me to monitor all the cameras and get alerts to my phone, I can even view the cameras on our Alexa Show "Alexa show me camera two" etc ... Yes. I know its cheesy but the entire bundle had been marked down multiple times. When I stumbled across it the price was $425 out the door. Figure it wasn;t selling becasue it wasn't much to look... at all this assorted stuff haphazardly packed in some beat up Lorex boxes but they said I could return it if it didn't work. I grabbed it thinking it was worth it for the 12 cameras alone. Its now a little almost 5 years old but working too well to consider replacing. Looks like I need to knock down the spider webs obscuring Camera 7.. Camera 3 the Reolink DB has yet to be installed... wanted to make sure I had it up and running first.